Global Business

By the time direct sales powerhouse Amway decided to expand into China in 1995, the company had an impressive track record at breaking into foreign markets. In fact, 50 percent of its revenues had been coming from overseas sales since the mid-’80s.

People get upset when a company seems willing to forget its roots out of mere financial opportunism. CEOs will have to consider the growing possibility of consumer and political backlash in the U.S. in the face of such moves.

In his new e-book, Re-Think: A Path to the Future, former IBM CEO Sam Palmisano predicts that traditional multinational firms will cease to exist and will eventually be replaced by globally integrated enterprises. These GIEs will locate departments not only in different states but even in different countries, wherever the most appropriate talent resides.